y u no grow candycane!!!!

[ilikepie777]

hello reef central, so i have a 14 gallon biocube that has been up and running for more than a half a year now, and I have this candy cane coral in there for about five months. The problem is It WILL NOT GROW!!!! Yes I got the candy cane coral with two heads and it still has two heads, at night time it will shrivel up for some reason and then rexpand in the day. It used to be at the very bottom of my tank but just recently i moved it to the very top and started target feeding it hoping new heads will start popping up. If anyone has any advice on how to promote this guys growth plz post it down at the bottom, hoping it will start growing soon!

 

[Majikhammer]

Sometimes you can help promote coral growth by feeding it. But this sometimes leads to to much waste in your tank. Lps corals take a long time sometimes to be completely happy anf start to split. Lps in general take aawhile to split. Espeically if you are lacking calcium, which is what lps makes there skeleton outta.
-Adam

 

[ilikepie777]

could u recommend any supplements to boost the calcium in the tank?

 

[Majikhammer]

Don't dose without testing. Thats a no go...do you have a test kit for calcium?
-Adam

 

[ilikepie777]

no i dont should i get one?

 

[HUNTER1]

Mine are like that too. Had mine for 5 months with 3 small heads and still the same. My Duncan grows just fine. I'm getting rid of mine, don't like it.

 

[organism]

Do you dose kalk in your top-off water? Also, feed them some pellet food.

 

[akitareefer]

If you do regular water changes you really shouldn't have to dose unless you have a lot of corals. What are your params? How do you test your salinity? Does it shrivel at night and expose feeding tentacles? I know different corals grow at different paces but I agree that seems far too long.

 

[ilikepie777]

well i havnt really done a water change in a long time but i really dont think i need one because all my parameters are fine 0 amonia, 0 nitrate, 0 nitrite, and salt level is 1.025 ppt, also i've put it at the top of my tank although i think it is getting a bit to much flow because it doesnt expand fully as it used to, and ive started feeding it every day(a little over feeding it actually caz yesterday i saw it barf out some brine shrimp), and yes it does shrivel up at night time, although i dont see any tenticles coming out of it

 

[RA]

well i havnt really done a water change in a long time but i really dont think i need

There are a lot of reasons why you need to do water changes. It is possible that it hasn't grown because you aren't doing water changes. Phosphate alone will keep corals from growing and they will build up over time in your tank. As others have mentioned you should have Alk & Cal test kits. What type of lighting do you have? Candy Canes do not like high lighting, so moving this up may not be a good idea.

 

[ilikepie777]

i have a biocube and i'm just using power compact and i have a alk test the alkilinity in the tank is 8.2 should i get a cal test?

 

[bohannbj]

I don't like to water changes either. I like to keep it stable with multiple types of filtration. The draw back is that you must add the necessary elements for them to make CACO3. Even with good salt you still need to supplement.
I use Bulk Reef Supply's calcium or Kent's turbo calcium, Arm & Hammer Baking Soda for the Alkalinity and Epsom Salts for the Magnesium. Do the testing in the beginning to get a feel for your tank and how much it chews up on a weekly basis. Eventually you'll get a feel for it and won't need to test as much. Use this link for a calculator to get your levels up to the desired mark. Worry less about it being exact and more about consistency week by week. For instance, the target is 450 ppm of calcium but +/- 50 isn't going to kill the tank. I've had CA at 600 and it didn't kill anything. Oops.
The biggest problem is getting your levels set then forgetting to maintain them when you get busy. Growing these things is a marathon, not a race. Fortunately you can do it from your chair with a nice view.

Brent
http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

 

[Bpb]

+1 on quality tests. I'm about to hit my 1 year anniversary in the hobby, and my tank has come a LONG way. I'm still new though. One of the most pain in the neck things to buy for me has been the good tests. They're not fun like new corals and fish or like new gear but they will do more for your tank than you can imagine.

I use the Red Sea pro tests. My war coral frag sat there and did nothing for 8 months...until I bought my test kits. I learned that my parameters were all low. Calcium, alk, and mag were at 350 ppm, 5dkh, and 1050 ppm.

I ordered some calcium, alk, and mag supplements from bulk reef supply to raise my levels slowly to 450 ppm calcium, 9 dkh, and 1400 mag. I then started using a weak kalkwasser mix as my ato. I've cut back on water changes as well and test all 3 parameters regularly to make sure they're not moving. I also feed all of my lps corals directly 3 times a week.

My growth rate has exploded in two months of doing this. My war coral frag went from being tan colored with 5 heads, to dark maroon with about 15-20 heads. My Duncan coral now forms a new head every couple weeks and my monti caps are growing much faster now as well.

I just got a 5 headed teal trumpet coral (very similar to candy canes) and I expect it'll be growing quick as well.

That's been my experience. Hope it helps!

 

[benjc]

+1 on the water changes/parameter testing. Most of my LPS didn't start splitting until I started feeding them. I now spot feed Reef Chili 2-3 times a week and within 2 months, 2 candycane heads became 5, 3 duncan heads have become 7 (some still small) and my one blasto head has 5 babies growing.

 

[Sk8r]

Put 2 tsp kalk per gallon in your topoff, but you first have to get your alk/cal/mg balance perfect. Good readings are in my sig line. If that balance is on, and you use kalk, you'll have a rock-solid balance until the mg runs out. Keep the mg spot on, and use kalk, and your params can be steady for months on end.

 

[mfinn]

no i dont should i get one?

Don't add chemical until you buy a test kit for that chemical.

Also, regular water changes will do wonders for coral growth.

 

[ilikepie777]

allright thanks everyone for the advice im already target feeding the candycane, so how often should i change the water even if parameters are stable?

 

[mfinn]

Every 2-3 weeks.

I have been doing water changes on all my tank for 20+ years, every 2 weeks.

 

[ilikepie777]

thank you mfinn

 

[frankyrivera]

Stability is key make your u have an ATO so that salinity doesn't swing and keep your alk & calcium rock steady and it will grow. Mine started out like this

And after steady parameters 8 month later it turned into this

I only do water changes once a month but I run a fuge with cheato I skim heavy and I dose 2 part so they all contribute. Good luck get some good test kits and track your levels and keep them steady not up and down